Context

In working with one of Franklin Institute's newest upcoming exhibit, Robot Revolution, (a limited time installment of robots from around the world with the capabilities to complete amazing tasks) I was given the opportunity to write up different promotional radio copy options in preparation for the arrival of the exhibit. The radio copy would be read on-air by one of Philadelphia's most popular radio stations for the duration of the exhibit's installment at the museum. 

 

Rhetorical Decisions

The wide breadth of radio made pinpointing my exact audience difficult. Because of this, I wrote options that would appeal to an equally wide array of audiences. The only specifications for the assignment was to include certain sponsorship details and three different on-air timing options: 30, 15, and 10 seconds. The following are two samples of my radio copy options:

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The clear limitations lie in the required length of the material. First, I had to work out how long 30, 15, and 10 seconds equates to in lines of text. I did this through both looking at previous examples of written radio copy as well as timing myself as I spoke my sample lines. I then had to figure how to integrate persuasive promotion into the basic exhibit details while still including the sponsorship information. Rhetorically, the purpose of the radio copy is to persuade listeners to go online to find out more about Robot Revolution and, ultimately, buy tickets to visit the museum. Because of this, my plan was to include as much persuasive, promotional content as possible in hopes to catch the audience's attention. 

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In terms of the promotional content I used, I considering Cicero's canon if invention, especially the more modern concept of the "nutshell". After knowing the point I wanted to communicate with my audience, I shortened the content into the nutshell version, or the bare minimum. In doing this, I took lines directly from the Robot Revolution website as to maintain consistency and keep the language surrounding the upcoming exhibit as familiar to the audience as possible. When writing the different options, I tried to put myself in the shoes of general museum visitors and radio listeners. Although the audience isn't narrowly defined, I tried to imagine what kind of information a radio listener might be interested in. What phrases might draw their attention? What information do they need to know and what information could I use to pique their interests?

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I thought about each time segment piece as having their own rhetorical purpose. The 30-second pieces served to both inform and persuade. These segments would have the most information about the exhibit as well as the attention-grabbing promotional content as well. The 15-second segments would have almost none of the exhibit information and would consist entirely of promotional material. These segments would solely be persuasive and draw listeners to the website to learn more. The 10-second segments would contain the bare minimum of information the name of the exhibit, where it's held, when it begins, and how to learn more. The purpose of these sections would be to inform. 

 

Reflection

I initially found this task a bit daunting because I had never written copy for radio in the past. Figuring out the odd structure to follow came easily enough through looking at past examples, but the timing of the segments brought me a lot of difficulties. Likewise, I found it extremely difficult to contain all of my thoughts into the time limit of the segments. I tend to write on the verbose side, so the task of editing myself down was challenging. I also found it difficult to find a balance between what I wanted to express about the exhibit and the required content. Herein lies the downside of corporate writing: not everything one produces will necessarily be completely their own or filled with only their ideas. I found this to be an extremely important lesson to learn.